There are many sides to F. Scott Fitzgerald. One side was blessed with luck. Stationed in Montgomery, AL awaiting deployment to Europe for the end of World War I, Fitzgerald meets the love of his life. Another side was his perspective to work hard to achieve success - not entirely for the spoils - but to obtain what he wanted most. Yet having that, he was never content and newly pessimistic about the world.
So after three tries and countless revisions, Fitzgerald finally was published. 1920's "This Side of Paradise" launched his career and became a best-seller. All at age 24. Fitzgerald is suddenly thrust into a role as the voice of youth. Forget about flappers, rumble seats, and the Jazz Age, Fitzgerald's youth is about seeing what you want and pursuing it without blinders.
Making money as a writer of short fiction, there are some that say his 1922 short story "Winter Dreams" marks the opening of the cycle leading to his crowning achievement, 1925's "The Great Gatsby." The protagonist of "Winter Dreams," Dexter Green, wants success in one lane and the fantasy of the beautiful, coltish Judy Jones in the other. Only this story is told from Dexter's perspective, not a third person like Nick Carraway who can easily be detached from the proceedings when we as readers need to feel the zap of the current of disenchantment.
We meet Dexter at fourteen when is caddying at a posh club in Minnesota. More than likely upper middle-class thanks to his father's grocery store, chasing around golf balls for "pocket money" makes a great cover story for his Walter Mitty-esque dreams of handily defeating the members and taking the title of champion. His dreams are interrupted one day by a petulant 11-year-old who, despite her immediate charm, can also swing a club at her nurse in a fit of anger. In a letter to his daughter Scottie, Fitzgerald once told her things not to worry about. Wildly, two of those items were the past and the future.
After Fitzgerald's Mack Sennett-like recounting of the 11-year-old girl creating chaos, Dexter suddenly decides he no longer wants to caddy. Next we learn that years later Dexter could have gone to "State University" and lived comfortably. Yet, he chose to attend college at a prestigious Northeast institution with "scanty funds." There is some pleasure in his denial that Fitzgerald draws on to make him seem smart. When he returns home after college, he again courts the hoi polloi ,opening a growing series of laundries for their carefully-washed duds. Amid Fitzgerald's drumbeat of Dexter wanting to be included in this community, he punctuates it with that he, unlike the new generation, is largely self-made in seizing opportunity.
Now 23, Dexter receives an invite to play the esteemed course as a successful businessman (yet inwardly he celebrates that the other guests are those who one exclaimed "Now there's a boy." In all accounts, he is doing very well at minding the gap until a certain 11-year-old returns as a shapely, 20-year-old bronzed goddess. "The name is Judy Jones. Ghastly reputation but enormously popular," she smirks in their introduction. Before you know it, the outer layer of Dexter is enamored, while the inner already knows otherwise.
Their courtship is tempered by Dexter's alarming self-doubt. Fitzgerald writes in swooning romantic terms about their first date, yet as a narrator gives us no true reason to fall in love with her ("Before dinner he found the conversation unsatisfactory.") We are able to see Dexter being manipulated, yet Judy grows more vulnerable in his eyes to the point that he confesses, "I'm nobody. My career is largely a matter of futures." Like Gatsby (and Fitzgerald likely), we are subjected to the winds of jealousy and Dexter's "restlessness and dissatisfaction." Sometimes you are left wondering, is this how Fitzgerald expects all of us to come alive with love as "a powerful opiate rather than a tonic."
Without spoilers, you know where this "turbulent" affair is going. However, you do not know what machinations Fitzgerald is putting Judy, Dexter and you through to get there. Half of his orchestrations are beautifully poetic and sad.
A million phrases of anger, of pride, of passion, of hatred, of tenderness fought on his lips. Then a perfect wave of emotion washed over him, carrying off with it a sediment of wisdom, of convention, of doubt, of honor.
That expertly-crafted line could have easily been pulled from "The Great Gatsby." It carries with it all the flood of emotion and the wise perspective of a protagonist and a narrator who know better. Although, Dexter is not Carraway or Jay Gatsby. He does not quite have the depth of experience that makes them three-dimensional. However, Judy Jones is the outline of Daisy Buchanan - yet we are not necessarily left to see what Dexter sees in her more than what Fitzgerald sees in his true muse.
She said "maybe some day," she said "kiss me," she said, "I'd like to marry you," she said "I love you," -- she said -- nothing.
NEW MUSIC THIS WEEK
TYLER, THE CREATOR - DON'T TAP THE GLASS [Digital Only](Columbia)
We write this review in the hope that it will be released physically. Apparently, Tyler, The Creator was a little miffed that more kids were holding their phones up than dancing at his shows. Honestly, why wouldn't he be, he has a long history of some banging beats. The twenty-eight minutes of "GLASS," are less a throwback to his love/influence from Miami bass (the unstoppable single "Don't You Worry Baby (featuring Madison McFerrin") and Houston gripping-grain BOOM (the title track and its blistering coda "Tweakin.'") Yet, "GLASS" is not looking to function as a grandiose statement about Tyler himself (there are already so many they match the biological stages of butterfly development) or who he even wants to be. "GLASS" works because it is clearly freeing Tyler of the expectations to do anything but revel in what he loves. So he bangs out a "Jump Jump" opener with Pharrell in "Big Poe," unreels an N.W.A. clapper in "Stop Playing With Me," and closes it all down with the afterparty ready Jodeci-esque "Tell Me What It Is." For those who underestimate its impact, that is alright too. However, in the continuum of the growth of House-like influences in R&B/Hip-Hop, "GLASS" just broke the ceiling as all good Pop albums should.
DIRE TIGER - Keep Rocking [Digital only](Vibe Music AI Records)
We write this review in the hope that it will NEVER be released physically. Credit to Dire Tiger, they are not "AI Slop," but they do illustrate a great point about turning over your production and writing to ChatGPT. First of all, five out of the eight songs incorporate "Rock' into the title. "Rockin Man" (no apostrophe really?) could be AOR circa 1981 like April Wine or late Nazareth, while the Judas Priest-ian "Keep Rocking" balances out its driving beat with chiming guitar backgrounds, and a great Def Leppard-ish solo. "Just Keep Rocking" is not a continuation, it is a Scorpions/UFO-esque showstopper that avoids the leaden phrasing that sunk many of their competitors. However, while all of their songs have moments of real creation, they almost mock the simplicity of these bands (and more) finding just the right anthemic line ("Rock, Rock, 'Til You Drop" springs to mind) to get the rise out of the crowd in some dank, cramped rehearsal space or empty barroom. While it is true, this music is often "dumbed-down" lyrically (never to the point of proclaiming as Dire Tiger does "Give my blood and soul/Give my sweat and give my snot,") is it only to inspire those around to keep rocking.
RENEE RAPP - Bite Me [MAGENTA LP/CD](Interscope)
The Broadway star-turned-media sensation finally gets to make an album that matches her bold personality. "Leave Me Alone" is a Synth/Glam, "Mad" borrowed from Alanis Morissette, while the Amy Winehouse-ian slow Soul potboiler "Why Is She Still Here?" shows her real vocal power.
DEBBY FRIDAY - The Starrr Of The Queen of Us [WHITE/BLACK STARRY LP/CD](SubPop/AMPED)
Not quite a straight dance album, Debby Friday takes a huge bite of Euro-style EDM with waves of synths and splashy buildups ("1/17') leading the way with her vocals and narration. Like most post-"BRAT" Dance/Pop, "Starrr" is designed to be both dance-all-night ("All I Wanna Do Is Party") and personality-based ("Lipsync.") "Lipsync" boasts helium-vocals, NIN-like phone-rumblers, and a skillful use of double-entendre lyrics.
$UICIDEBOY$ - Thy Kingdom Come [MAROON LP/CD](G59/The Orchard)
New Orleans old-school Nineties Hip-Hop duo $uicideboy$ finally got the balance right on the riveting "New World Depression." Their commitment to Three 6 Mafia-style Horrorcore almost Lo-Fi backgrounds helps the followup. "Now at the Hour of Our Death" is just as desperate and detached as "All of My Problems Always Involve Me" was on "Depression." Where the Budd Dwyer production (ahem...really just Scrim) slightly anesthetizes you on "Self-Inflicted," Ruby da Cherry comes out of the gate with a rat-a-tat-tat rhyme that will keep you up all night.
FOX LAKE - New World Heat [GOLD LP/CD](MNRK)
Denver's Fox Lake are among the first of the new wave of bands readily throwing back to the scratching (the Rage-ready "Freestyle") Nu-Metal (the Deftones-ish grind/siren call guitars on "Savior.") When they divert from the path into modern Punk ("Cold Hard Truth") or let "Freestyle" spin down into a Knocked Loose-style drop/slowdown you get the feeling that like Maruja or Speed - they have more "Heat" to come.
MORGAN WADE - The Party Is Over (recovered)[LP/CD](Ladylike/Sony)
SUNNY SWEENEY - Rhinestone Requiem [BROWN LP/CD](Aunt Daddy/Thirty Tigers/The Orchard)
After touring as an opener for Alanis Morissette and Shinedown, Country singer/songwriter Morgan Wade returns with a little more crunch behind her. When she cools down into non-standard "Tear In My Beer" updates like "Left Me Behind," Wade does capture some novel new imagery (the bottles on the floorboard) and a shared sadness that is even unique to the Post-Taylor world of Pop these could edge into.
Neo-Traditionalist Sunny Sweeney has a sweet midrange that sounds sincere (when she sings about laying by the Brazos on "Traveling On" - it is believable) and sassy (the Loretta-esque "Diamonds and Divorce Decrees" features the scintillating lyric "I'm stuck between I do, and I'll never do that again.") Behind Sweeney she has her own kind of Emmylou-ish Hot Band with searing guitars (from producer Harley Husbands) and a consistent two-step inducing shuffle.
BUDDY GUY - Ain't Done With The Blues [2LP/CD](RCA)
On the week that the Mississippi Blues legend turns 89, "Ain't Done With The Blues" is another lap of celebration. Joined by Joe Walsh, Joe Bonamassa, Christone "Kingfish" Ingram, Peter Frampton, and The Blind Boys of Alabama, Guy mines his past ("Hooker Thing",) and present ("It Keeps Me Young") for enough Blues to keep us all going. Then, just to make the Saturday night vibe a little more Sunday morning, Guy brings it on home with "Jesus Loves The Sinner."
BILLY STRINGS AND BRYAN SUTTON - Live at the Legion [RED/WHITE/BLUE 2LP](Warner)
With Strings growing into a major concert attraction and "Highway Prayers" allowing him to grow in several new musical directions, "Live at the Legion" is a soothing respite. More than just back to the basics, Strings and world-class 10-time IBMA guitarist of the year Bryan Sutton make great harmonies both vocally ("Nashville Blues") and with their strings ("Tom Dooley.")
THE NEW EVES - The New Eve Is Rising [PINK LP/CD](Transgressive/PIAS)
Here from Brighton to shake up British Folk, this female quartet built it from the ground up with Velvet-ish keyboards and primitive drums ("The New Eve") occasionally forsaking the natural melody along the way in favor of spontaneity. "Highway Man" might be a Acid Folk dressed up as Post Punk (especially given the bass line and the quivering vocals.) However, when they hit on something, it is a musical lightning strike. The brilliant "Cow Song" shows their knack for maypole-style vocal lines and string-driven/call-and-response Glam Folk. Even with the drums and the keyboards, The New Eves still infuse their songs with the battle-cry essence of classic Folk. This is the music of battles, standards flying, and rivers being crossed both where they are neck deep and leapable in one bound. This is New British Folk and it is dangerously addictive.
Mik Davis is the record store manager at T-Bones Records & Cafe in Hattiesburg.
